Hi and welcome to the Lyle McDonald support forum, I set this up as a place primarily for people to get support for my products. You might have questions about them prior to making a purchase or you might have bought a book and have a question about something I've written.

Please note: you needn't have purchased anything from me to post here or ask questions.

Certaily all discussions related to training and body composition are allowed (there is also a miscellaneous section for everything else). If you're hoping I'm going to troubleshoot someone else's product, you are unlikely to get much of an answer from me. If you bought a book by Writer X, ask them the question; not me.

By and large this is not a 'support forum' in the sense that it is typically used. If you're looking for like-minded folks to discuss changing body composition in a real manner, this is the place for you. If you're looking for endless 'attaboys' or for someone to tell you what you want to hear, you have not. You will never get anything but a straight answer from me on any topic; if you can't handle the answer, don't ask the question. If you're going to get indignant if I tell you something you don't want to hear, the door is easy to find.

I'll do my best to address the questions as they come and I'll check in on the forum at least once per day. But please be patient if your question doesn't get answered immediately. People who pester me for answers will not get them; if I don't answer it the first time, odds are there are a reason for that. Bumping it or PM'ing me repeatedly only annoys me. In that vein, almost any question you think is worth PM'ing me about is probably worth starting a forum thread about. So do that instead.

Keep in mind: This is a FREE forum that I run as a FREE service. Don't think that you deserve an answer for any reason. This is true even if you purchased a book. Most in this field do no customer support. But don't think you own me because you made a book purchase.

Also note that all new signups will ALL have their posts go into a moderation queue initially. Please don't double post because you don't see it show up right away. I don't spend all day online but I will get to it. This was done for several reasons, none of which are relevant. Simply note that this is how the forum is set up. At some point, your posts will no longer go through moderation.

I don't delete accounts or posts under 99.9% of circumstances. Don't make a post that you don't want to be seen. If you want to take your ball and go home, that's fine. But I don't delete accounts so don't ask.

In that vein, the system is set up to only allow editing of posts for 60 minutes after it's made. After that, no edits. No exceptions.

Finally, please find something approximating punctuation and capitalization in your posts. And don't talk in text/chat speak (.e.g 'u' instead of 'you'). If you can't be bothered to type something I can read without effort, I can't be bothered to respond.

There are a few rules here:
1. Watch the language. This is just a personal preference, nothing more (people who see me on other forums know that I can use foul language). If you curse, I will either censor the words and/or delete the posts and give you a warning. If you can't say it without cursing, don't say it.

2. If you find yourself in disagreement with someone, keep the discussion civil. If it gets personal, I'll step in and warn everybody involved. I don't care who started it, I end it.

3. No personal attacks. This is sort of a sub category of #2. Don't make fun of people if English isn't their first language (we get a lot of foreign folks). Or for anything at all.

4. If you've nothing better to do than gripe at me for whatever reason, the door is easy to find. If you choose to be here, find something more productive to do than complain about me. Put more bluntly: if you don't like what I have to say, don't hang around.

5. Please search the forum (especially the stickies) before asking a question. Often just skimming the appropriate subforum will turn up what you're asking. Most of the questions that you have have been answered already. I realizes that hte search engine isn't amazing but do your best.

6. Always check the main site at http://www.bodyrecomposition.com before answering a question. Literally 98% of the questions asked are answered on the site. And since you probably got here through the site, you'll save everyone time by searching there first. If you are going to tell me that you 'don't have time to read the article', then I will tell you that I 'don't have time to answer your question'. Remember: free forum. Don't waste my time.

7. Feel free to disagree with me and question me. If I can't back up a claim I make, it's not a valid claim. However, if you simply want to argue with me about some pet topic of yours (for example: Crossfit or Paleo), don't bother. I won't change your mind and you won't change mind and I have no emotional investment in hashing out what has already been hashed out endlessly.

8. As there is currently somewhat of an internet 'war' between me and Mark Rippetoe, I have chosen to make that topic off limits. Everything that need be said has been said (including me addressing the squat issue) beyond a lot of personal attacks which are not allowed here. Do NOT start threads about it and do NOT dredge it up in other threads.

9. You don't get a second warning. If I warn you and you break the same rule again, you're gone.

10. NO TROLLING. This is the single rule with no first warning. Troll me and your account will be deleted/banned without warning.

11. If you don't like these rules, that's fine. The door is easy to find. Griping about the rules is another no warning offense for account deletion. When I'm on someone else's forum, I live by their rules. If you are on mine, you live by mine. If you don't like them, go elsewhere.

12. Read this closely (if it doesn't make any sense to you, don't worry about it): The FIRST rule of the Island is that you do NOT mention the Island here. In a related vein, if you cannot remember where you are, you will be given a choice of one or the other. I may make the choice for you proactively.